Those were the days: when petrol cost 6s.2d. (31p) a gallon

Above: this photograph shows the Bolton Road garage around the 1960s when Bill Mawtus was the owner and before Bell Square was built. The garage abutted the King's Arms forecourt and the petrol pump on the right obscures the pub's mounting steps, which can be seen in the photograph below. The garage's wooden workshop was demolished to make way for Bell Square. Note the 'gents' toilets sign by the low wall. The smart red and white Ford Prefect has a 1960 registration plate (663 WW). Petrol cost 6s.2d (31p) a gallon in 1970 and forecourts had attendants. Weekly wages averaged £32. A loaf of bread cost 9p, a pint of lager 20p. 

The same scene in 1972, minus the garage, which moved to the other side of the King's Arms, where it continued for a number of years as Longbottom and Green, managed by the late Geoffrey Drake, whose wife, Margaret, still lives in Silsden. Bell Square was built as part of the pre-1974 clearances of unfit housing in Bridge Road by the Urban District Council. The garage site had several different uses after Longbottom and Green closed and is now the home of Jacksons funeral services, in association with Whitlock and Craven. 

Demolition and the new lay-out opened up this view towards the Co-op parade of shops in Bridge Street. Photographs of the old streets and buildings before demolition are shown in my blog of April 1st, 2013.

Out Laith, Rivock Oven, Dirk Hill Sike, Black Pots: poetic names in an ancient area of Silsden

The public bridleway through the commercial forest at Rivock Edge skirts an area rich in pre-history. There is evidence of Bronze Age travellers and in and beyond the plantation there are rocks with cup-and-ring markings. 

Atmospheric stretches of the wood are interspersed with glades. Rivock Oven, a sort of chamber of rock (marked as a cave on maps) is in this vicinty. The bridleway, used by walkers, runners, cyclists and horse riders, hugs the conifer plantation boundary between the television relay station and the farmhouse at Black Pots, which has a colourful history going back more than 400 years. 

 The plantation floor is densely carpeted by conifer needles. 

In addition to the bridleway, there is a public footpath through the wood on the flanks of Rombalds Moor. The entire wood is private land. An Ordnance Survey map is an essential aid to walking here and over the rough moorland bounded by Silsden Road, Ghyll Grange, Doubler Stones and Black Pots.   

Distant view of Silsden from the bridleway near the Stanza Stone where significant hillside felling has taken place, revealing an outcrop of millstone grit.  The ruin in the foreground on the right is Out Laith. Nearby, Dirk Hill Sike, which rises in the plantation, forms a ruggedly attractive valley replete with modest waterfalls. Passing beneath Lumb Bridge, the sike (a small stream) flows into Holden Beck through Jacobs Wood. 

Silsden remembers the fallen at Armistice centenary service

The town's annual Service of Remembrance was held on November 11th, the centenary of the signing of the Armistice. A large number of residents attended Sunday's service at the memorial gardens. To mark the end of the 1914-18 war, the Remembrance included the distribution of more than 90 wristbands with the names of the Silsden servicemen who died in the conflict. Lance Corporal Harry Sykes (whose name is pictured above) lived in Daisy Hill. He was 24 when he was killed in action on the Western Front on July 18th, 1917. He has no known grave and is commemorated at the Menin Gate, which is dedicated to the missing of the Ypres Salient. Harry had earlier served in the Gallipoli campaign. His parents had moved to Aire View by the time of their son's death.

The Silsden Royal British Legion wreath was laid by branch president Douglas Boulton (centre), assisted by his great granddaughter Hayleigh Beckwith.

More than 30 wreaths, announced by Lee Smith, were laid on behalf of the armed forces, civic authorities, emergency services, groups, churches and businesses.
 The names of Silsden's Fallen were read out with dignity by two Girl Guides and a Scout leader, Poppy, Ellie and Sarah. 

St James' Church choristers took part. Music was provided by the Town Band.  

The Vicar of St James', the Rev David Griffiths, and Father Michael McLaughlin, parish priest of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, officiated. Pictured above with the vicar is Jean Bower, chairman of Silsden Royal British Legion and parade commander.
The Newsome family are pictured by one of the 15 metal figures of soldiers with Great War inscriptions newly displayed at the memorial gardens. Local businesses sponsored 13 of the figures and the Royal British Legion two of the installations, which were made by Iron by Design, of Steeton.

Captain Bob Prosser and his wife Sheila, of Cringles, pose by the blue heritage plaque marking the original site of Silsden's cenotaph at Bolton Road End. Captain Prosser, of the Royal Engineers, served from 1948-78. He and Sheila have been married for 62 years. 

The plaque, organised by Silsden Local History Group, was installed by well-known local builder Danny Clarke, who is a staunch supporter of the community. Funding has come from the Harry Beverley Tillotson Trust and the Co-op. The Road End area has been enhanced by flower beds and a seat provided by the Friends of Silsden Green Places, also with Trust funding.

A cascade of knitted poppies outside Silsden Methodist Church.